2nd moon Lander launched on Wednesday

A company called Intuitive Machines took their second shot at a lunar Lander Earlier this week. (2/26/25) Their first lunar Lander made it there, didn't have a very good landing, it wound up tipping over, but all the instrument packages still worked fine.  

SpaceX had been contracted to put it into orbit so there should be no problems getting it on its way to the moon. 

So, with this second lunar Lander, what does intuitive instruments expect to accomplish? 

According to usatoday.com,
‘The solar-powered Athena lander, a hexagonal cylinder capable of carrying up to 300 pounds of cargo, will prominently carry a drill and a mass spectrometer, NASA said. Drilling operations will seek to detect and measure the potential presence of gases from beneath the lunar soil.
Other objectives including testing a a Nokia LTE 4G communications system and deploying a propulsive drone capable of hopping across the lunar surface.’ 

The second lander also has a gizmo on it called a Laser Retroreflector Array that helps keep track of moving objects in space heading towards the moon like other spacecraft or satellites. 

Intuitive Machines is not the only company sending a Lander to the moon. Firefly Aerospace is also in this business. Fireflies Lunar Lander was launched on January 15th, and it's taking a slightly longer distance trip to the Moon and is taking a package of instruments. Also paid for by NASA. They hope to land their craft on March 2nd. 

NASA has a vested interest in both of these landers because they want to learn more about the moon before they send a manned mission again. We have not walked on the moon since 1972.  

NASA's lunar program might be in jeopardy now, though because President Donald Trump has expressed more interest in going to Mars than to the moon. Time will tell.
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